Yesterday we shared a Sina Weibo post deleted by the authorities in which a Beijing-based producer of “micro films”, or wei dianying (微电影), put out a call for footage from the scene of last month’s Tianjin fire. That post offered a revealing glimpse into an emerging grey space in China — features and documentaries filmed on mobile phones and distributed to potentially mass audiences through social media.

Could such a space enable Chinese to delve deeper into sensitive or contested issues? With a “micro documentary”, for example, about the June 30 blaze at a shopping mall in Tianjin?

Not so fast, says China’s State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT). The body, which controls and regulates all radio and television programming as well as like content online, announced new restrictions this week on “micro films”, “online dramas” and other emerging forms of video content.

[ABOVE: A poster for the popular “micro film” Si Xin Men. Films like this could now come under much stricter scrutiny by the authorities.]

Released yesterday, the SARFT regulations, “Notice on the Further Strengthening of Regulations on Online Dramas, Micro Films and Other Online Audiovisual Programs” (关于进一步加强网络剧、微电影等网络视听节目管理的通知), cites vulgarity and general low taste as justification for tighter controls:

In recent years, online dramas, micro films and other online audiovisual programs have developed rapidly as a new form of online culture. But problems of vulgarity, tastelessness and dramatization of violence and sexuality have appeared in some programs, some are full of vulgar language, and some intentionally pander to base interests . . .

But a SARFT spokesperson clearly stated that “as cultural products directed toward mass audiences” online video programs had to “adhere to correct guidance,” a lynchpin propaganda policy that suggests control of not just vulgar or indecent content, but also of content that in the broadest sense goes against the policies, aims or “spirit” of the ruling Party.

In practice, it appears that the regulations demand that all online programs be subject to pre-approval before being distributed. Further, the regulations explicitly hold distributors of online video programming responsible for violations of propaganda discipline.

It remains to be seen how SARFT intends to enforce these regulations, particularly in the case of user-generated content. Clearly, if followed to the letter, the “Notice” would require massive resources.

Despite SARFT’s insistence that these new measures stem from a public outcry over online content, the reaction to the announcement online has been largely negative today.

A reporter for Guangzhou’s Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper steamed on Weibo: “You even want to concern yourself with the number of flies in the latrine! What is there that you don’t want to control? There’s not a single thing you can manage properly! And you still think the world will stop spinning if you don’t control it.”

The theme of control freaks who can control nothing adequately was a popular one. “You control everything, but manage nothing well!” said one user. “We should let these guys handle the problem of food safety,” said another, referring to an endless series of scandals over the safety of milk and other products in China.

Other users questioned whether the SARFT had adequate means and manpower to apply old-school rules to new media:

This is the era of We Media (自媒体), and SARFT still wants to approve [films] one at a time. Apparently, they’re not afraid of dying of exhaustion.

Archives

People's Daily: Cautions on WeChat
― In an article on page five of the Chinese Communist Party's official People's Daily newspaper today, new media expert Xu Danei (徐达内) addresses the benefits and disadvantages of the WeChat platform, focusing on the conversations happening in private chatrooms. The piece, which begins by enumerating the new conveniences offered by WeChat, quickly moves on to the risks -- rumours and unverified information. It concludes: "Of course, Tencent has been advancing the platform all along, with the reporting and complaints function on the backend constantly improving. Recently, the 'original content' label (原创标签) has also been tested, and can be seen as a further effort at advancement on Tencent's part. I'm sure that as a mature internet company, it can continue to do better and better."

SIIO Director Lu Wei: Choice Quotes on Internet Controls
― On October 30, 2014, at a press conference ahead of the World Internet Conference in Zhejiang, State Internet Information Office head Lu Wei (鲁炜) -- the hardline internet chief that lead the crackdown on the "Big V" account holders on Sina Weibo in 2013 -- was asked why sites like Facebook were shut down in China. He responded: "I haven’t used these websites [like Facebook] before, and I don’t know whether or not they’ve been shut down. But as to there being some websites that cannot be visited, I think this is situation probably exists. However, I want to say that our management [of the web] is all done according to the law, and all of the measures we take are to protect China’s national security and the rights Chinese consumers in accord with the law." Lu also used the metaphor of the home to explain China's information restrictions: "Your websites are in your home. How can I shut down shut down sites in your home? China is friendly, but it has a choice on which guests can visit."

Xinhua Releases Full Version of "Decision" from the 4th Plenum
― Here is a full version from the official Xinhua News Agency of the "Decision" on "rule of the country according to the law" issued from the 4th Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the CCP. It begins: "In order to implement the Party's strategic deployments at the 18th National Congress and accelerate the building of a socialist nation governed by rule of law, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee issues the following decision after researching the comprehensive advancement of the major issue of ruling the nation by law." China Copyright and Media has done a full translation of the "decision" in English, available here: http://bit.ly/1tfQ4Rn

Xinhua Commentary: "Let Faith in Rule of Law Put Roots Down in the People's Hearts"
― In a commentary posted to the internet late this afternoon, and said to reflect the "spirit" of the recent Fourth Plenum, China's official Xinhua News Agency said that "the authority of the law lies in its being truly believed and treasured in the hearts of the people." The commentary said there was a need to foster widespread "faith" in the law among both leaders and ordinary people. At one point the commentary even used the word "citizens," or gongmin (公民), which has grown somewhat less common in state media over the past year as it is associated with the idea of "civil society." The Xinhua piece said: "Of all laws the most important laws are not those engraved on marble or etched in copper, but those inscribed on the hearts of citizens."

Xi Jinping: Thoroughly Promoting Governing of the Nation By Law Also Requires Deepening Reforms
― Topping most major internet sites in China today (presumably by order) as well as the People's Daily, an official news release summarizes an "important speech" made by President Xi Jinping yesterday at a Work Group on the Deepening of Reform. In the speech Xi sought to integrate that objectives of the recent Fourth Plenum with the decision on deepening reform introduced at the Third Plenum. He emphasizes that the promotion of "rule of the nation according to the law (依法治国), the focus of the Fourth Plenum "decision," is a critical step in the deepening of reforms in China.